History of Reek Sunday: The Legend of St. Patrick Driving the Snakes from Ireland
Croagh Patrick, from Westport Bay. Image: Wikimedia
HISTORY OF REEK SUNDAY
Several years ago, at this time of the Summer, during one of my teaching trips to Ireland, I found myself in Westport on the West Coast, where they have a saying,
“Ahh… west o’ here, the next parish over is Boston.“
On the last Sunday of July every year, Reek Sunday or Garland Sunday is observed in Ireland. During this event, 25,000 to 40,000 people will walk the 3-hour round trip up the Reek Mountain, or Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, Ireland. It’s the sacred mountain of St. Patrick and a famous pilgrimage in honor of the patron saint of Ireland, commemorating his driving the snakes from Ireland. Over 100,000 people visit Croagh Patrick throughout the year.
The Tradition Behind Reek Sunday
St. Patrick’s Black Bell. National Museum of Ireland. Image: Wikipedia
It is believed that St. Patrick fasted and prayed for 40 days on the summit of this mountain in 441 A.D. St. Patrick threw a bell down the mountainside at the end of this fast and banished all the serpents from Ireland. The fact that snakes were never native to Ireland does not diminish the tradition.
Some believe that the banishing of snakes represents either certain pagan practices or outright evil. In any event, the pilgrimage in honor of St. Patrick dates back over 1,500 years.
St. Patrick, The Bell, and the Snakes
The saint’s bell, the so-called “Black Bell of St. Patrick,” remained a highly venerated relic, with an old reference in O’Flaherty’s History of West Connaught dating back to 1098 AD. The tradition goes like this:
The bell was originally made of shiny white metal. It became black from constant pelting at the demons in the form of blackbirds and venomous snakes who came after St. Patrick on the mountain.
Loch na Corra. Author’s photo
Patrick banished these powers into the hollow of Log na Deamhan (Lake of the Demons.) The devil’s mother, Corra (the fiery one), escaped and flew into the lake south of the mountain, known since as Loch na Corra. The bell we now have dates from 600 to 900 AD and is kept by the National Museum of Ireland.
Gallarus Oratory, “strangers hall.” Dingle Peninsula, Country Kerry, Ireland. Author’s photo
Radiocarbon dating of the remnants of a dry stone oratory is dated between 430 and 890 AD. This oratory or place of worship is similar in design to the magnificently preserved Gallarus Oratory found on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland.
I’ve stood inside that oratory; it’s made of stones laid without mortar but so finely fit together that no water passes inside when it rains.
More on Reek Sunday
You can read more:
- Part 2: Reek Sunday: the Pilgrimage
- Part 3: Reek Sunday: the Location
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com
